Can-top for fish or meats.



No. 638,580. Patented Dec. 5, I899.

D. HENNESSEY.

CAN TOP FOR FISH 0R MEATS.

(Application filed Sept. 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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ATENT DAVID IIENNESSEY, OF NEIV WESTMINSTER, CANADA.

CAN-TOP FOR FISH OR MEATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,580, dated December 5, 1899.

Application filed September 18, 1899. ri=1l No. 730,832. (No model.)

To it whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID HENNESSEY, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at New IVestminster, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, have invented a new and useful Can-Top for Fish or Meats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the art of canning fish, meat, and the like; and its object is to obviate the necessity of inserting a shield on top of the filled can before the cap or top is put on to prevent the matter in the can from stopping the blow hole and preventing the escape of the gas in the process of cooking. I attain this object by the particular form of top or cover illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of my cover. Fig. 2 isa section of the same, taken on the line a a; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through the blow-hole on the line b b in Fig. 1.

Especially is the particular design of cantop applicable to the fish-canning industry where machinery to apply such covers to the bodies has been inaugurated, as I have found that when the cans are full of meat and the shields have been inserted the vibration imparted to the cans as they are passed to the machine ofttimes displaces the shields over the rims of the cans, and thus prevents the cover from going on and very often proves a source of annoyance and expense. This difficulty is remedied by my cover, which consists in forming a raised portion 10 in the center thereof, with grooves 11 radiating therefrom and connecting with the deflected por tion of the rim, as 12, so that all gases beneath the cover may pass to the raised portion 10 and escape by the hole 13 therein. This hole 13 is preferably made by a punch having a sharp point with angled sides, so that a ragged edge will be presented around the hole, as 13, which in the event of a flattened particle of the matter coming in contact therewith it will be prevented from stopping the aperture. For instance, if a piece of the skin of a fish were to lie over the aperture the ragged points 13 would prevent it from closing the hole, as would be the case if the rim of the downward edge thereof was on a uniform plane.

It is obvious that the number of radiating grooves 11 may be increased to insure that the gas will escape.

From the foregoing it is shown that a can having my particularly-designed cover does not require a shield when being closed, as the radiating grooves provide artificial passages for the gases to pass to the central apertures, and thus, although the device is entirely simple, its field of utility is very important.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as novel and useful is- 1. In an article of manufacture, a can top or cover having a raised portion 10 at its center, with an aperture therein having an irregular downwardly projecting wall, and raised ribs radiating from the raised portion to the, outer rim, forming grooves 11, and the outer rim, the raised ribs and the raised center being on an even plane for the purposes specified.

2. In an article of manufacture consisting I DAVID I'IENNESSEY.

Vitnesses:

ROWLAND BRITTAIN, EDITH G. .MAoKENRor. 

